Or would it be Purgatory?
by xmarie08
Summary: Sam has realized that Dean and Castiel are in love with each other and now it’s up to him to make them realize it. Sam!POV; Sequel to “Not Dying Today” Now complete! Spoilers for 5.01!
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** The response was so great for "Not Dying Today" and the story kept going in my head so I just had to do a sequel. Also, I wanted to get it out before Season 5 starts 'cause once my stuff get's jossed it's hard for me to keep going :) The title, like all of my titles, comes from a Tori Amos song.

* * *

In the beginning, Sam found the whole situation, Dean and Cas being in love with each other, and being oblivious to it, rather hysterical. The more he watched them, though, the less funny it seemed. They still made him smile, but it was affection, not hilarity.

Occasionally, he felt a pang of jealousy. The ease with which they fit together, at least when the sexual tension wasn't clouding everything, well, it reminded Sam of what he had with Jess.

Since their day trapped together Sam and Cas had become friends and, while Dean never commented on it, Sam could tell he was pleased. When Sam and Cas ganged up to tease him a slight twinkle in his eye belied his gruff reactions. The three of them started working together, really working together, and pretty soon it was hard to remember a time when Cas wasn't there.

At first, Sam decided not to broach the subject with Dean or to Cas. It wasn't really any of his business and, besides, Sam knew his brother. Dean needed to come to terms with this on his own. Dragging him out of the angel-loving-closet was likely to end in bloodshed.

After a particular fierce battle with some demons (and angels) in Massachusetts the three weary hunters pulled into the Hi-Dee-Ho Motel and exited the Impala. Dean sent Sam in to get them a room and immediately set about inspecting Cas for injuries. Sam just shook this head and chuckled inwardly.

_Like a frickin' mother hen. _

"One room please" Sam said to the rather attractive girl behind the check-in counter.

"How many occupants?"

"Three."

"Ok, you want two queens or two queens and a rollaway? I think we have one left."

Sam glanced over his shoulder. Dean had Castiel's face in his hands as he examined a cut over his eye.

"Two queens will be fine" he said with a smile.

After that, Sam reported at motel after motel that no rollaways were available. Sometimes the rooms had couches though.

It wasn't like Sam wanted them to start having _sex_ with him in the room or anything creepy like that. No, it was more that he quickly realized that everyone slept much better that way. Dean must have too, because he kept sending Sam to register them and never said a word about the accommodations.

Seemed like every time Dean and Cas slept across the room from each other one or both of them had nightmares. The really freaky part though, was that whoever wasn't having the nightmare would somehow know. He'd wake, stumble across the room, and rouse the other man. Sometimes they spoke about the dreams in hushed whispers. That's usually when Sam would stir, the snippets of conversation tugging at his consciousness, but he always fell quickly back to sleep.

One night, Cas had a particular awful nightmare. He was whimpering loud enough that Sam woke just as Dean reached Castiel's bed from the couch. Sam blinked his bleary eyes at his brother illuminated in the moonlight but did not move or draw attention to his wakefulness.

Dean sat on the edge of the bed and gently shook him, "Cas. Cas, wake up!" he whispered.

Cas jerked and shot straight up. "Dean!" he gasped, hands grabbing wildly at the man's shoulders.

"I'm here Cas," he said quietly, tenderly rubbing the angel's arms as he tried to catch his breath.

"I'm, I'm fine Dean" Cas murmured.

"No, you're not, you're shaking. Take deep breaths." Dean instructed as he shifted closer to him, his arms curling around the angel's back and pulling him into an awkward embrace.

After a few moments, Sam could see that Castiel's breathing had returned to normal and Dean pulled back to look at him.

"Was it the archangels?"

"No. Hell."

Sam saw Dean set his jaw and his eyes tightened. Dean had confided once, when he was spectacularly drunk, that he was afraid that Cas would go to Hell for his disobedience. _It's all my fault Sammy… _

Sam suspected though, that that Cas was more worried about Dean ending up in hell than himself.

"Scoot over Cas."

After that night, it didn't matter if there was a couch available, Dean and Cas shared a bed.

Nobody said anything.

Sam figured it was only a matter of time after that. That before he knew it, he'd be having to get his own motel room and a PFLAG sticker for his laptop.

But, as the weeks ticked by and nothing happened Sam started to get frustrated. He didn't know how much longer he could tolerate sitting around watching the two of them brood and alternately staring at each other longingly—longingly!

They were driving him nuts.

It came to a head one night at a crappy dive bar in Bloomington, Illinois. Lucifer had gone to ground and the rest of the apocalypse was apparently on spring break. So, the boys were in town on an old fashioned hunt.

It was ISU rush week so the bar was packed with buxom sorority sisters, the sorts of giggly girls Dean used to be all over. Undercover as newspaper reporters, the three of them were chatting up the coeds to try to get skinny on some mysterious deaths at the Alpha Chi Omega house.

At least, Sam was trying.

Flirting with drunken 20-somethings was usually an easy evening out. Between Dean's charm and Sam's earnest demeanor, they never had any difficulty getting information (and, frankly, a good lay). It was a sign of how comfortable Sam had gotten with Cas that he hadn't really thought about the practical aspects of him joining them on such an endeavor.

"Here Dude, put these on," Dean said handing Cas a pair of his jeans and a cotton shirt.

Cas frowned at the garments in his hands, "Is there something wrong with my clothing?"

"No! Er, I mean, you look too… like, grown up, to be hitting on college chicks" Dean stammered, a faint blush creeping up his neck.

Cas continued to look confused.

"What Dean's trying to say, is that you might be mistaken for a professor and that will make the students reluctant to talk to you. It's better to blend in, pretend to be students" Sam explained, a smile teasing the corners of his lips.

Cas nodded and went to change.

A few minutes later he exited the bathroom, "Is this acceptable?"

The black long-sleeved cotton tee was just a little tight and Dean's jeans were just a little big, so his boxers were peeking out, but, Sam had to admit, the guy looked good.

"Erm, yeah" Dean said with a gulp.

_Oh, for the love of God! _

"Almost perfect," Sam said as he crossed the room. He grabbed a belt out of his bag and handed it to Dean. "Help him with that. I'm just gonna brush my teeth and we can go."

He strode off to the bathroom with a smirk leaving Dean staring stupidly at the strap of leather in his hands.

The angle of the bathroom mirror meant Sam could watch Dean helping Cas put on his belt, watched his hands lingering just a little too long…

_Seriously, my life is really pathetic._

He spat in the sink and rinsed his mouth. "Ok, let's go."

When they reached The Rusty Nail it took them a good five minutes to fight through the crowd to the bar and another 10 to actually get three beers.

Sam started canvassing the bar, looking for three approachable women. A petite redhead with a pixie cut caught his attention, she was staring at Castiel. Sam nudged Dean and jerked his head in her direction. Dean followed his gaze and saw how intently pixie-girl was staring at Cas and grinned. Sam and Dean both turned back to look at her and realized she had two friends with her.

_Perfect. _

Then the pixie, still leering at Cas, licked her lips.

_Actually licked her fucking lips like he was a big juicy steak. _

Sam huffed a surprised laugh and glanced over a Dean who's grin faltered and eyes narrowed.

Sam rolled his eyes and grabbed an oblivious Cas by the elbow. "Come on Cas, time to make some new friends."

"Hi, I'm Sam. This is my brother Dean and our friend Cas."

The pixie giggled and finally pried her eyes from Castiel. "This is Melanie," she said gesturing to the tall brunette to her left, "and Heather" gesturing to the blond on her right. "I'm Rachel" she said as she stuck her hand out to Cas.

_Oh crap_, thought Sam, remembering when he'd first tried to shake Castiel's hand.

Cas had come a long way since then though, he easily took her hand and smiled.

"Leah was tender eyed; but Rachel was beautiful and well favored" he said.

_Wait, what? What the fuck was that?_

Rachel just laughed, "Genesis 29:17! I'm majoring in comparative religion."

Sam let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Well, then you and Cas will have a lot to talk about. He's… well versed on the subject."

"Great, we're sick of theological debates," said Melanie as she linked arms with Dean. "How about you buy me shot?" she asked in a voice that wouldn't have seemed out of place on a 1-900 call.

"Um, yeah. Okay," he said, but as they headed to the bar he kept turning back to look at Cas who had quickly launched into a discussion with Rachel over the proper interpretation of Genesis.

"Guess that leaves us," Heather said with a playful smile.

"Guess so," said Sam.

Heather was a senior psych major and Sam liked her. For the first time in a long time, he actually found himself relaxing. Cas and Rachel had snagged a table and continued their religious debates. Castiel actually seemed to be enjoying himself, though Sam was pretty sure he wasn't reading all of the flirtatiousness Rachel was throwing his way.

_Human body language is still a foreign language._

Dean was buying Melanie shots and trying to flirt, but Sam noticed his eyes kept trailing over to Cas and Rachel.

Eventually, Sam turned the conversation with Heather to the recent deaths and in discussing the psychology of folklore got the story on the sorority spirit. Despite having a name, Sam wasn't ready to call it a night just yet. They were on shore leave from the apocalypse…

_Smoke 'em if you got 'em._

"So…." Heather said, her eyes flickering between the other two couples. "Your brother… He and Cas are… friends?" She said with a sly smile as Sam was, rather unfortunately, downing the last of his beer.

He choked and sputtered and silently thanked god that he didn't shoot beer out of his nose. "How did you….?"

"Oh, please," she said with a wave of her hand, "it's sooo obvious. Dean hasn't been able to take his eyes off Cas all night and looks like he's going to either puke or punch something every time Rachel touches him. And Cas… well Rachel's pulling out the big guns and he's not responding. At. All." she said with a laugh.

"So, what's the story?" she leaned in conspiratorially. "Both in the closet? Bi?"

Sam grinned, relief over *finally* being able to talk to someone about it outweighing the potential weirdness. "Well, Dean's always been firmly in the hetero camp..."

"Overcompensation?"

"Possibly, but I don't think so. I've never seen him show the slightest interest in another guy before. And believe me; we spend *way* too much time together so I think I would have seen hints."

Heather nodded thoughtful, "So it's just Cas that floats his boat. What about Cas?"

"He's, well, he comes from a religious family. Like, *really* religious,"

_If you only knew…_

"and, I don't think he's interested in men as a rule either."

"Hmm, so two straight guys fall for each other and angst ensues. Kinda romantic, don't cha think?" she said with a grin.

"Yeah, I guess it kinda is," he said with a chuckle.

"Seriously though, they're lucky to have you." Sam raised an eyebrow. "I mean, they're lucky to have someone who supports them and will be there for them no matter what."

He was about to ask her if she wanted to get out of there when Melanie stormed over in huff.

"Your brother is a real dick you know that."

_Sonofabitch!_

"Yes. I am acutely aware of that fact" Sam said dryly.

"Whatever," she turned to Heather, "Let's get out of here. Steve from the fourth floor is here, I'll be talking to him as soon as you're ready to leave." She pivoted and stomped off.

Sam's gaze searched for is brother and found him stumbling over to Cas and Rachel's table.

"Aw shit."

He grabbed Heather's hand and they made their way to table just as Dean got there.

"Cas!" Dean barked, eyes flaring. "I need to talk to you. Alone." He turned to Rachel with a glare normally reserved for demons and dick-ish angels.

Rachel's eyes widened as she looked back and forth between a seething Dean and a clearly confused Cas. Awareness dawning, she yanked her hand from Castiel's arm. "I'm really sorry. I, I'll just be going." She jumped up and started to pull Heather away.

"But…I don't…" Sam tried vainly.

_Sorry_, Heather mouthed, looking as downtrodden as Sam felt.

_Damn it!_

He turned back and saw Dean dragging Cas out the back exit. On the table were two of Cas and Rachel's untouched shots.

He downed them both before following them out into the alley.

"You're intoxicated" Cas said with a frown.

"No shit Sherlock!" Dean said, slurring slightly. "You're a tipsy too, don't even deny it. Wanna tell me what the hell that was about?"

"What?"

"You and Tinkerbell in there? Did you even *try* to get any info on the ghost we're supposed to gank? Or were you too busy?"

"Excuse me? I'm not the one who's so drunk that he can barely stand up!"

Dean reached out and fisted his hands in Castiel's shirt.

"That's enough! Both of you!" Sam shouted as pulled the two of them apart. "Knock it off! I've got what we need. We're leaving. Now!"

"But," Dean started.

"No! You don't start with me!" Sam whirled around and stuck a finger in Dean's chest. "You just blew a potentially great night for me, so you don't get to talk. Get in the car- now!"

Cas and Dean both gawked at him for a moment before they started shuffling toward the car.

"Okay…. Dad!" Dean muttered.

Then he and Castiel dissolved into giggles.

Sam took a deep breath and counted to 10.

***************************

Feedback greatly appreciated!


	2. Chapter 2

**Warning: **Major spoilers for 5.01!

**Disclaimer:** I have a character make fun of wing!porn, but this is meant as a Meta joke, and is in no way intended as a slight against the genre and its authors.

**AN:** I had a busy week so I didn't actually get to start writing this until after I'd seen the premiere but it worked out great as I was able to incorporate it! Story picks up the morning after Part 1

* * *

Sam slipped out of the motel at dawn, heading to the Starbucks down the street. Cas and Dean were still passed out on the motel bed, were they had collapsed fully dressed the night before.

Sam considered waking them, purely out of spite, but decided that he was the one that would suffer through a hungover Dean's bitching. No, drinking his latte in peace was infinitely more appealing.

On the walk back Sam's phone rang.

"Hey Bobby. What's up?"

Bobby was having a difficult time adjusting to life in wheelchair and he was a hell of a lot more vulnerable to angels and demons so Sam and Dean were always nervous the news was bad when they saw his name on the caller id. If experience had taught them anything it was that getting mixed up with the Winchester's was likely to get you killed.

"Hey Sam. Gotta case I could use you guys on. Friend about four hours south 'a here with an angry spirit. Should be pretty easy to clean up but it's… it's hauntin' the goddamned attic."

"Sure thing Bobby," Sam jumped in. "We're about finished here anyway. Got an address?"

When Sam got back to the hotel room Thelma and Louise were still passed out and Sam made a decision. He left Dean a note with the name of the sorority house spirit so they could find her remains and that he'd gone to help Bobby so they'd meet up there once they'd ganked their respective spirits.

Driving along in his stolen Yaris, Sam felt like he could breathe for the first time in weeks. It wasn't like before, when Dean had wanted time apart. This wasn't about anger or betrayal or jealousy, it was just an old-fashioned time out.

_Besides_, Sam thought with a smile _maybe Dean and Cas will use the alone time to their advantage… _

_Ok, now that's just wrong._

Sam turned up the radio and tried to force the image of Dean and Cas getting it on out of his mind.

He'd only been on the road an hour or two when his phone rang.

"What the hell Sam!"

"Good morning to you too Sunshine" Sam said with a laugh.

"This isn't fucking funny! I wake up and you're just gone?"

"I left you a note!"

"Yeah, got the 'Dear John' letter; thanks for that."

"Dean, I don't think that means what you think it does."

"That's not the point Poindexter! You're goin' off by yourself in the middle of the goddamned apocalypse! What if something happens? You know Cas can't find you with the friggin' rib graffiti."

"Dean, Bobby knows exactly where I'll be and I'll meet you two at his place in a day or two. What's the big deal? All's quiet on the Armageddon front and it's not like we haven't hunted separately before. I mean I—" Sam stopped cold.

_I hunted for months while you were in Hell,_ that's what he'd been about to say, _And that is exactly Dean's point._ Look what happened there.

Sam felt like an ass.

"Look Dean, I'm sorry. I just, I just really needed to do this. I need to help Bobby. Ok?"

Dean sighed, "Yeah, Sammy, I know. Cas and me, we'll meet ya at Bobby's soon. And you know what we're gonna do then?" he asked is demeanor brightening, "We're gonna work on teaching angel-boy here how to hold his liquor!" Sam thought he heard Castiel moan in the background.

"So, Cas is reveling in the wondrous joy of the human hangover?"

"Oh yeah. Worshiping the porcelain God and everything."

"Aw, well I hope you're holdin' his hair back for him" Sam said with a snicker.

_I'd swear I can hear him blushing through the phone. _

"Later Bitch."

"Later Jerk."

*************

Sam dispatched the spirit handily and pulled into the Singer Salvage Yard less than 24 hours after Bobby had called.

Once his identity had been properly established, Bobby wheeled over to the fridge and grabbed two beers. Sam resisted the temptation to do it himself. He knew Bobby well enough to know that would be a mistake.

"Here you go. Some of that frou-frou microbrew you bought last time you were here."

Sam accepted the beer with grin, "Missed you too Bobby."

"So, what are you doin' here by yerself Sam?" asked Bobby with a raised eyebrow. "Where's Jay and Silent Bob?"

Sam barked out a laugh and it was his turn to raise an eyebrow.

"What? You idjits kept talking about God bein' missing like in _Dogma_ figured I needed to see it. And I gotta say, if God's playing goddamn skee ball I'm gonna be royally pissed."

He took another sip of his beer, "Seriously though Sam, why are you solo? You boys have a fight?"

"What?" Sam asked, surprised, "No, nothing like that. We're fine, I was just so sick of the two of them…" He trailed off, embarrassed.

_Outing Dean to Bobby doesn't seem right._

Turns out, Sam didn't have to.

"Sick of 'em moonin' over each other like a couple of angsty adolescents?"

Sam gaped at Bobby for a beat before finally nodding.

_Don't know why I'm surprised, Bobby's always been a pro at reading people._ It was part of what made him a great hunter.

"They keep dancing around each other and they were driving me up the wall so when you called I just bailed."

"Well, that brother of yours is as stubborn as a mule when he wants to be. And featherbrain ain't much better. They'll come around eventually, just gotta keep from killing 'em in the meantime."

Sam polished off his beer, "Want another one Bobby?" he said getting to his feet.

"Nah, I could use something stiffer. Grab the whiskey. And then you gotta tell me how the case went."

They polished off a glass apiece while Sam filled Bobby in on the attic spirit. When they were almost through with their second glass, Sam brought the conversation back to Dean and Cas.

"So, really, this thing with Dean and Cas, it, it doesn't bother you?"

Bobby snorted, "other than the fact that I don't really get what your brother sees in Mr. Spock? No. Why? It bother you?"

"No, doesn't. It's just… I mean, Dean's never been into guys so it was a little weird at first."

"Yeah, well, Cas ain't exactly a guy is he? Cherub ain't my favorite person, but he's good for your brother. He's the only person who's ever been able to talk Dean outta doin' something stupid and he works hard to keep both you boys safe. And he loves your brother warts and all, loves him like he deserves to be loved."

"That's why I wish they'd just quit beating around the bush."

"Well, your brother don't believe he deserves that kinda love. And, it's like you said, Dean ain't ever been into guys so it's gotta be messin' with his head a little. They'll see what we all see one of these days."

Later that night as Sam was about to doze off in the guest room Bobby's words "They'll see what we all see" replayed in his head and inspiration struck. He grinned in the darkness and resolved to set his plan in motion first thing tomorrow.

*************

The next morning, Sam poured himself a cup of coffee and picked up the phone.

_This is a great idea_ he thought.

"This is a terrible idea Sam."

"Hey Chuck. Do you have what I need?"

"Yeah," he said warily.

"You're writing this is into the gospel, huh?"

"What! No! No, this doesn't go into the gospel. In fact, I wouldn't write it down at all but I have to, or else it just stays there, trapped inside my skull, rotting my brain like some flesh eating bacteria!"

"Geez, calm down."

"Calm down?! Calm down?! Between their fantasies and their dreams it's like non-stop gay porn in my head!" The prophet's voice was so high now it was practically squeaking.

"Chuck—"

"Yesterday," he rushed on, "I wrote a five page scene of Dean beating off in the shower while imagining Castiel's wings caressing him. I mean, wing!porn? What the fuck is ithat/i about? I've gone from prophet of lord to some hacky slash fanfiction writer. It's so humiliating!"

Sam was torn between feeling sorry for Chuck and wanting to throttle him for the new, horrifying images assaulting his brain.

"Chuck, you know, maybe if you help me we can get the two of them together and that will temper their, er, fantasy lives."

'_Course, they might just start actually doing the stuff they're imagining…_

Sam decided this thought was best kept to himself.

In the end, Sam convinced Chuck to send him a couple of chapters of a more benign nature than the masturbatory scene he'd so eloquently described, along with some non-relationshippy stuff that he thought he could sneak past the angels. Sam printed them off and was contemplating the best place to strategically place them when he heard the rumble of the Impala's engine.

He looked down at the pages and shrugged, deciding the kitchen table was as good a place as any. Discarding the pages, he grabbed a six pack of beer and some holy water and went to meet them on the porch.

*************

Cas and Dean were in high spirits when they arrived. Turns out that Illinois got interesting after Sam left and between the two of them getting caught sneaking into the sorority house and falling into a sink hole in a muddy cemetery everyone was cracking up at the retelling.

Dean and Cas seemed so relaxed that Sam wondered if maybe they'd finally come to terms with everything but then they'd brushed hands when reaching for another bottle of beer and it was clear they hadn't. Sam sighed, more loudly than he'd meant to, and Dean gave him a weird look.

Eventually, they moved into the kitchen to get some lunch and Dean picked up the pages Chuck had sent.

"What's this?"

"Oh, uh, Chuck sent me those. I hadn't actually gotten around to reading them before you showed up."

"The prophet sent you information and you were too busy to read it?" Cas asked incredulously.

Sam rolled his eyes, "No Cas, I was about to when you showed up. Besides, it's probably nothing useful. You know the angel's won't let him share the important stuff with us."

He sneaked a glance at his brother who was flipping through the pages and he noticed his brother was glaring down at the pages, his shoulders tight, his jaw clenched.

_Chuck was right. This was a terrible idea._

He started backing out of the room. "I, um, I'm just going to, uh, go and—"

Dean's head snapped up, "Sam!"

"Um, yeah?"

Dean turned to Cas and gave him a thin smile, "Cas, think you can take Bobby to the store and get some food for dinner tonight?"

Cas frowned and cocked his head, "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, everything's fine. I just wanna talk to Sammy and I don't want Bobby leaving the protection of the wards without some backup."

Bobby shot Sam pointed look, that clearly said _Just couldn't leave well enough alone could you?_

"C'mon Pinocchio. Time to learn how to shop just like a real boy," he said as he rolled out of the kitchen.

"I don't know why you insist on these nicknames," Cas said shaking his head as he followed.

Sam stared after them, refusing to turn back and meet the gaze that was boring into him. Neither of them moved or made so much as a sound until they could no longer hear Bobby's van on gravel drive.

"What the fuck is this Sam?" Dean asked with a vehemence Sam hadn't heard in months.

"Um, I told you," Sam said turning back to face him, he wished he hadn't. "It's from Chuck."

"Bullshit. This is your idea of a sick joke and I won't let you mess with him like that. He's been through enough."

"I, what?" Sam's brow knitted. _What the hell had Chuck sent him?_

Dean flipped to the second page, "The angel stared at the sleeping hunter, his face glowing in the moonlight. He'd witnessed the birth of the universe but nothing could compare to the radiance he saw there. And in that moment he finally understood the strange human concept of a broken heart, because his heart was breaking now. Dean would never, could never, love him." Dean's voice cracked a little on the last sentence.

"Dean, I don't know what you think I did, but I swear to you those pages came from Chuck."

Dean's eyes narrowed, "You're telling me you didn't make this up."

"I swear," Sam repeated.

_Come on Dean! Why can't you see the truth when it's staring you in the face…_

"But then… Son of a bitch! Those fucking angels! Zachariah just loves messing us."

_Christ on crutches!_

"Here, give me that" Sam motioned impatiently to the pages in Dean's hand. Once he got them he quickly flipped to a section of Dean thinking about Cas. "Here," he said handing them back. "Read this and tell me if you still think someone's messing with you."

Dean rolled his eyes but refrained from commenting. As he read his jaw slackened and the color drained from his face. He dropped into a kitchen chair and stared down at the pages in his hands, reading them again and again.

"Dean?" Sam asked gently taking a seat next to him.

His brother looked at him, his face reddening, "I don't—I mean, you know me, I'm not—"

"I know," Sam said smiling, "But that doesn't mean you don't love him all the same."

Dean closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"He loves you too. I think he realized it before you did."

Dean opened his eyes and regarded him skeptically, "Just what did Chuck tell you?"

Sam laughed, "Chuck didn't tell me shit! I've been living with the two of you for months. Hell, I knew before either of you did!"

Dean huffed out an embarrassed laugh and grabbed the bottle of whisky, "I need a drink."

He poured a glass for Sam and a glass for himself. He downed it in two glups and poured another. This one he just stared into as he rolled the glass between his hands.

"What am I gonna do Sammy?" he asked quietly.

"What do you mean what are you going to do?" Sam's patience was wearing thin. "You're going to quit being a coward and you're gonna man up and go for it. In fact, you hear that? They're back."

Dean's head snapped up and the look of pure terror on his face made Sam burst out laughing. "Seriously Dude? You can face down a Wendingo but ithis/i petrifies you?"

Dean glared at him as he threw back the rest of the whiskey.

They sat in silence listening to the sound of the van pulling up the drive. When they heard the doors slamming shut Dean jumped up and started pacing around the kitchen.

"Dean. Relax."

Sam got up and went to open the door for them. "How'd it go?" he asked taking one bag off of Bobby lap.

"Fine. Need a leash for Toto though, he has a habit of wandering off" Bobby grunted as he wheeled himself off to the deposit the extra toiletries in the linen closet.

"I told you, I was in the bakery" the angel called after him, rolling his eyes.

When Sam and Cas entered the kitchen Dean was leaning against the far wall drinking straight out of the whiskey bottle. Sam made a face.

Cas stopped cold, "Dean, is everything alright?" he asked concerned.

"Uh," he cleared his throat, "Yeah, uh, everything is fine Cas." He stayed against the wall. Sam thought maybe he needed it to keep from falling over.

"Oh, good." Castiel made his way over to the counter to set down the purchases. "There were freshly baked apple pies, I bought you one."

Sam was glad he was still looking at Dean, because he would have hated to miss the grin that suddenly lit up his brother's face. He handed the whiskey bottle to Sam without looking at him, crossed the room in two strides and spun Cas around.

"Wha—" was all Cas had time to get out before Dean gripped the back of his head and crushed their lips together.

For a split second Cas just stood there, arms splayed as his sides. But then instinct took over and his arms snaked up Dean's back as he melted into the kiss.

Sam just stood there grinning stupidly holding a half empty bottle of Jack Daniels. He was just starting to feel uncomfortable with the intensity of the kiss when Dean pulled back slightly and rested his forehead against Castiel's.

"Well, 'bout damn time," Bobby said gruffly as he wheeled into the kitchen.

Dean jumped at the sound and both he and Cas flushed crimson.

"Oh, uh, hey," Dean stammered as he grabbed Castiel's hand and gestured to the doorway, "We're just gonna—"

"Panic room," Bobby cut in. "And do us a favor? Turn on that radio you got down there? Loudly."

Cas was now maroon.

Dean was still red, but he was grinning, "Thanks Bobby," he said tugging Cas along behind him.

Once the two men were out of sight Bobby wheeled over to the counter and grabbed two clean glasses.

"Well, don't just stand there 'ya idjit. Get over here and start pouring." He gestured to the bottle in Sam's hand.

"Yes Sir." Sam took a seat at the table and filled the tumblers as the sounds of classic rock drifted in from downstairs. It took Sam a minute before he recognized the song.

AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long."

_Of course it is. I think I'm starting to understand how Chuck feels. We should really send him a fruit basket or something._

He couldn't help it. He started giggling.

Bobby looked at him like he'd lost his mind for a minute which only made him laugh harder.

Then Bobby started chuckling and Sam was practically howling, laughing so hard it brought tears to his eyes.

Life was still a mess. Lucifer was still walking the earth. The angels still wanted Dean's meatsuit. Sam still craved demon blood. Bobby was bound to a chair. Cas was losing his mojo and God was AWOL.

But, for one brief afternoon, Sam couldn't bring himself to worry about it.

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Feedback greatly appreciated!!!!!


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